Study: African-Americans, Hispanics Face More Foreclosure Risk

African-American and Hispanic homeowners are more likely to face foreclosure than their white counterparts, according to a study by National Community Reinvestment Coalition. Minority borrowers in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area are "facing foreclosures more often than white borrowers even after controlling for borrower, loan and neighborhood characteristics," the researchers concluded. They also noted that "income has almost no statistical significance" in explaining the likelihood of foreclosure. Hispanic homeowners are almost twice as likely to face foreclosure and African-Americans are 1.18 times more likely than whites to face foreclosure. A recent survey by NCRC discovered that African-American borrowers in loan modification programs went to foreclosure faster than whites. Further research is needed, the study says, to determine if servicers "act more quickly to foreclose" on minority borrowers. The Department of Justice's fair lending unit is said to be reviewing loan modification data provided by servicers participating in the government's Home Affordable Modification Program.